PALEONTOLOGY

London's Natural History Museum Has a New Star Attraction: An Amazing Blue Whale Skeleton

The skeleton is suspended from the main entrance hall's ceilings, providing visitors with a 360-degree view of the largest animal ever known to have lived on Earth.

Courtesy of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

10 Fascinating Facts About the La Brea Tar Pits

There’s a gooey time capsule in the heart of Los Angeles, left over from an era when saber-toothed cats, dire wolves, camels, and giant sloths prowled southern California.

What 6 Dinosaurs from Jurassic Park Really Looked Like

In the 24 years since the original 'Jurassic Park' was released, what we know about dinosaurs has changed a lot. Here's some of the new research that may change how you imagine these ancient animals.

Scientists Find 99-Million-Year-Old Baby Bird Preserved in Amber

The tiny hatchling belonged to a group of toothed birds that died out along with the dinosaurs.

Scientists Think They Know How Whales Got So Big

These 200-ton ocean dwellers had a growth spurt 3 million years ago.

Dinosaur Fossils Don’t Get Much Better Than This

The as-yet-unnamed nodosaur was so well preserved that it “might have been walking around a couple of weeks ago.”

Newly Discovered Dinosaur Named After Monster From 'Ghostbusters'

There is no ankylosaurus, only Zuul.

Interactive Map Plots Where Every Known Fossil Was Discovered

See who your neighbors would have been 100 million years ago.

5 Extinctions That Wiped Much of Life off Planet Earth

The next time you’re feeling less than brave, remind yourself you’re already one of nature’s great success stories.

Charles Robert Knight via Wikimedia Commons // Public Domain

Here's What a Neanderthal's Voice Might Have Sounded Like

Less grunting, more hoarse screaming.

The Overlooked Paleontologist Who May Have Inspired 'She Sells Sea Shells'

Though Anning didn't receive her due credit from the male naturalists who reaped the benefits of her labors, word of the fossil-hunter's many achievements still managed to spread far and wide during her lifetime.

Nimesh M via Wikimedia Commons // CC BY-SA 2.0

The Field Museum Is Launching a Beer Based on Its T. rex, Sue

The pale ale is called psuedoSue.

These Proto-Wombats Could Chomp Like Nobody’s Business

Paleontologists say a prehistoric marsupial called "Didelphodon vorax" had the strongest bite force of any mammal that’s ever lived.

Scientists Discover Seal-Like Prehistoric Predator

The animal lived off the coast of what is now Washington state about 10 million years ago and probably fished like seals do, relying on the power of its oversized eyes to track its prey.

Internet Archive Book Images via Wikimedia Commons

Experience a 1920s Fossil Expedition With This 360-Degree Video

The American Museum of Natural History is highlighting its artifacts in a whole new way.

Researchers Reclassify Itsy-Bitsy, Prehistoric “Beardogs”

Two specimens of the Chihuahua-sized animals have just rearranged the branches of the carnivore family tree.

What Long-Dead Bees Can Tell Us About Our Ancestors

The presence and contents of a fossilized nest suggest that Australopithecus africanus lived in a dry, savannah-like environment.

John Cooke via Wikimedia Commons // Public Domain

DNA Shows Infamous ‘Piltdown Man’ Hoax Was Two Parts Human, One Part Ape

But who was behind the hoax?

Honymand via Wikimedia Commons // CC BY-SA 4.0

Some Woolly Mammoths Survived Until Just 5600 Years Ago

A new study finds that mammoths were roaming Alaska’s St. Paul Island as recently as 5600 years ago, but even then their days were numbered.

Why Turtles Have Shells (It’s Not What We Thought)

New evidence suggests that prehistoric turtle shells served a different purpose than we originally believed.

Ancient Ostrich Relative Discovered in North America

Researchers believe the discovery could be the key to identifying other ancient bird species.

Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

This Ancient Crocodilian Egg Looks Like a Geode

Here's what a little stress and 45 million years can do to organic matter.

Prehistoric Mammals Didn’t Need Dinosaur Die-Off to Thrive, Say Scientists

A new study finds that mammals were thriving 10 to 20 million years before dinosaur extinction.

(c) Y. Chen, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology

Fossils Reveal a Hammer-Headed, Vegetarian Sea Weirdo

Atopodentatus used its peg teeth and bizarre jaw to scrape plant matter off rocks on the sea floor.

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